Site of All Saints' Church

A Scheduled Monument in Leziate, Norfolk

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Coordinates

Latitude: 52.7505 / 52°45'1"N

Longitude: 0.5102 / 0°30'36"E

OS Eastings: 569515.095628

OS Northings: 319937.595745

OS Grid: TF695199

Mapcode National: GBR P56.HT2

Mapcode Global: WHKQD.T448

Entry Name: Site of All Saints' Church

Scheduled Date: 30 January 1984

Last Amended: 19 March 1999

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1016484

English Heritage Legacy ID: 30561

County: Norfolk

Civil Parish: Leziate

Traditional County: Norfolk

Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): Norfolk

Details

The monument includes the site of All Saints' Church and churchyard, situated
in isolation in a field bordering the east side of Leziate Drove. The
boundaries of the field, which measures approximately 60m east-west by a
maximum of 47m north-south, correspond to the original boundaries of the
churchyard, the level of which is raised up to 1.5m above that of the
adjoining road. A linear depression along the southern side marks the site of
a path. The site of the church is marked by an uneven raised area in the
western half of the field and, on the evidence of these surface indications,
the building was approximately 25m in length and up to 11m wide, including a
nave, probably with an aisle on the north side and with a slightly narrower
chancel. An inventory of the church goods made in 1368 refers to a chapel of
St Thomas. A block of flint rubble masonry exposed towards the eastern end
perhaps represents the base of the north side of the chancel arch, and traces
of flint masonry are also visible on or near the site of the tower at the
western end. A floor of tiles manufactured locally at Bawsey was observed on
the site in 1803.

Leziate parish was united with the neighbouring parish of Ashwicken towards
the end of the 15th century, and in the 16th century the lord of the manor,
Sir Thomas Thursby, was accused of enclosing a large part of the common land
and of pulling down houses and evicting tenants in the parish. A report on the
church in 1602 stated that the chancel of the church had been `utterly
ruynated and pulled downe' without license by the parson, Mr Bramwell, who had
appropriated the lead from the roof. The church remained in use, however, and
it is recorded that during the first half of the 18th century a service was
held there every third Sunday, but by the end of the 18th century it was
ruinous and is marked as such on a Faden's map published in 1797. According to
an early 19th century description it had been in this state for a long time,
and soon after this it was demolished, although it must still have been
standing in 1816, when a notice relating to the perambulation of the
boundaries of Rising Chace was affixed to the door.

All fences, gates, and the sheds at the eastern end of the field are excluded
from the scheduling, although the ground beneath these features is included.

MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

A parish church is a building, usually of roughly rectangular outline and
containing a range of furnishings and fittings appropriate to its use for
Christian worship by a secular community, whose members gather in it on
Sundays and on the occasion of religious festivals. Children are initiated
into the Christian religion at the church's font and the dead are buried in
its churchyard. Parish churches were designed for congregational worship and
are generally divided into two main parts: the nave, which provides
accommodation for the laity, and the chancel, which is the main domain of the
priest and contains the principal altar. Either or both parts are sometimes
provided with aisles, giving additional accommodation or spaces for additional
altars. Most parish churches also possess towers, generally at the west
end, but central towers at the crossing of nave and chancel are not uncommon
and some churches have a free-standing or irregularly sited tower. Many parish
churches also possess transepts at the crossing of chancel and nave, and south
or north porches are also common. The main periods of parish church foundation
were in the 10th to 11th and 19th centuries. Most medieval churches were
rebuilt and modified on a number of occasions and hence the visible fabric of
the church will be of several different dates, with in some cases little
fabric of the first church being still easily visible.
Parish churches are found throughout England. Their distribution reflects the
density of population at the time they were founded. In regions of dispersed
settlement parishes were often large and churches less numerous. The densest
clusters of parish churches were found in thriving medieval towns. A survey of
1625 reported the existence of nearly 9000 parish churches in England. New
churches built in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries increased numbers to
around 18,000 of which 17,000 remain in ecclesiastical use. Parish churches
have always been major features of the landscape and a major focus of life for
their parishioners. They provide important insights into medieval and later
population levels or economic cycles, religious activity, artistic endeavour
and technical achievement. A significant number of surviving examples are
identified to be nationally important.

All Saints' Church is not known to have undergone significant alteration after
the 17th century, and the site has suffered little disturbance since the
demolition of the ruins in the early 19th century. Although nothing of the
church now stands above ground, the buried foundations and floors, with
associated deposits, will retain archaeological information concerning the
construction, character and use of the church during the medieval and early
post-medieval periods, and further information relating to the medieval
population of the parish will also be preserved in the surrounding churchyard.

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